"Hmm..."
"Huh?"
"Gurgle gurgle... help..."
"What's all that mumbling about over there!"
Herta controlled a mechanical arm to gently tap Lynelle's head inside the cultivation pod.
"This is a special-grade restorative fluid, my own premium supply. Originally meant to prevent any sync-trauma abnormalities after you woke up, so I had you soaked in it. Never mind breathing in it—even if you were actually drowning, it could bring you back."
"Ehehe..."
Lynelle gave a foolish, awkward chuckle.
"Alright, enough of the silly grinning. If your body's fine, get out quickly."
Herta sighed, opening the restoration pod for Lynelle while continuously muttering, "I heard there's a member in the Intelligentsia Guild who calls himself Dr. Ratio and takes curing people's stupidity as his mission. Someone even photoshopped a picture of him—basically, he'd see some fool's antics and pass out from sheer frustration."
"Before, I never got why some people can't stand fools... now I know."
Watching Lynelle, who'd just been revived and was clumsily putting on her clothes with uncoordinated limbs, Herta couldn't resist giving the girl's soft cheek a hard pinch.
"Congratulations. You might be the only person this Amber Era who almost managed to harm the great Lady Herta. I nearly fainted from your performance."
"St-stop pinching... I-I was wrong..."
Finally covering her reddened cheeks and escaping Herta's devilish claws, Lynelle belatedly realized something.
"Wait, I can understand you?"
"That's because I injected you with a synesthesia beacon while you were asleep."
Herta withdrew her pinching hand, watching Lynelle's delayed reaction with amusement.
"Strange, you seem really surprised by this. Synesthesia beacons are pretty universal, except in some completely unexplored regions, right?"
"You didn't show any particular micro-expressions when I mentioned things like the Intelligentsia Guild or Dr. Ratio earlier, but when you realized you could understand me, you clearly looked shocked... Meaning, you obviously know about synesthesia beacons, which have nearly 100% universal coverage, but you didn't think you should have one?"
"Uh..."
Lynelle quickly covered her mouth.
Of course, geniuses were terrifying. She hadn't said anything yet, and her secrets were already being laid bare... Trying to hide anything from these clever people was probably too wishful thinking.
"Are you misunderstanding something?"
Seeing Lynelle's cautious look, Herta found it somewhat amusing. "Relax, I'm not interested in the secrets behind you... Or rather, I'm not interested in forcibly digging them up."
"Even as a member of the Genius Society, I don't provoke an Emanator of unclear stance for no reason... Besides, I was the one who interfered with their experiment first."
"Emanator? M-me...?"
"Do you think you are one?"
"I don't think so."
"Exactly. So, stop overthinking it."
Herta gently tapped Lynelle's head.
"At least for now, the existence that granted you these abilities doesn't seem hostile... Your task right now is to focus on handling your immediate problems."
"Anyway, hold on a moment, I need to find something..."
While Herta seemed to be adjusting some experimental instrument, Lynelle quietly called out in her mind to her system spirit.
"Hey, hey, does Herta think the system is some kind of Emanator-level entity?"
[Uh, maybe...]
The Customer Service Kiana-chan, who'd been silent since Lynelle began her escape, gave an ambiguous answer.
"That's as good as not saying anything at all..."
Though annoyed at Kiana-chan's evasiveness, Lynelle could tell she didn't want to interfere too much with her choices.
Or rather, except for matters related to the system's functions, most of the time, this Kiana-chan was just a silent observer.
This indirectly disproved Lynelle's earlier guess that Kiana-chan might actually be related to Kiana. After all, no matter which version of Kiana, Lynelle found it hard to imagine her being indifferent to this part of Babylon's history.
Of course, it was also possible she couldn't intervene for some reason... but that would require testing another time.
"Alright."
Herta's voice pulled Lynelle back to reality. In the short time, Herta had quickly assembled a screen displaying what was clearly the route map from Lynelle's earlier escape.
"Before we start, let me ask—since after you woke up, I can no longer monitor the other world in your dreams."
Herta tapped the screen.
"While your consciousness is anchored in our world, the other world in your dreams shouldn't experience any major upheavals, right?"
"Probably not?"
Lynelle blinked. "Earlier, the Professor said he wouldn't kill Sirin, at most just run some experiments on me. And since my body doesn't reset before revival... I'm probably still in that 'open-hearted' state?"
"As long as I don't stay here for more than a week, it should be fine, right?"
"Good. And your reaction confirms another hypothesis of mine."
Herta sighed. "As I thought, you know nothing about your own abilities—maybe even less than I do..."
"Never mind. Before we review your actions, let me explain the characteristics of your abilities. First, the most important rule you must remember is—"
"The time flow between this world you're in now and the dream world isn't equal."
"In fact, the ratio isn't even fixed. This time, one day here might be two days there, but next time, one day here could be ten years there."
"This time flow ratio isn't controlled by your will, physical state, or even that mysterious Emanator's adjustments... I haven't pinpointed the factors influencing it yet, but one thing's clear—it seems almost like a..."
Herta pondered her words, then slowly uttered:
"Natural phenomenon?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.